This pack includes 2 books for children: (1) As They Saw India and (2) Hsuan-Tsang’s Journey to India. Both illustrated, these books recount early travels to India as narrated by Megasthenes, Fa-Hien, Hsuan Tsang and Alberuni. BOOK ONE: What do other people think of us? This question is always intriguing. So we read with avid absorption the accounts of people who came to our country many thousands of years ago and compare them with what people say about us today. These travelers’ tales are also of interest for another reason. They are the most descriptive source for the reconstruction of ancient Indian history. This book deals with four travelers who came to India at different times. The circumstances and reasons for their visit greatly influenced their writing. BOOK TWO: Hsuan-Tsang’s Journey To India: Hsuan-Tsang was one of a succession of Chinese travelers who came to India in search of Buddhist wisdom. He was dissatisfied with the available translations of the sacred books and, at the age of twenty-eight, decided to procure the texts in the original and have the finer points of Buddhist doctrine explained and clarified to him by learned Indian scholars. Hsuan-Tsang also wanted to visit the holy land and see the sites where various events in the Buddha’s life occurred. Hsuan-Tsang has to brave many dangers and overcome many obstacles to fulfill his ambition. Journeying across vast stretches of desolate desert, and crossing forbidding icy mountains, he finally reached India after numerous adventures. Hsuan-Tsang stayed in India for thirteen years and the descriptions he has left of the places he saw and their inhabitants give us a valuable insight into the India of those days. This is a record of Hsuan-Tsang’s travels and stay based on his writing.
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